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Leave all modesty at home: Etiquette of a Belarusian banya
Date: 02/20/2007The Belarusians have the same passion for the banya (steam bath) as the English do for making tea. Convinced of its special healing powers, most people visit once a week to nurse their bodies while catching up on gossip with friends. Its original purpose was far more basic, of course—the banya enabled people to have a good wash when private bathrooms were rare.
If you are willing to fling modesty to the wind, donning only a felt cap to protect your head from the heat, you are in for a treat. After getting completely naked with your fellow banya-goers, you work up a sweat in the ferociously hot interior, then jump into the snow or an icy lake to give your metabolism the shock of its life. There is method to the madness. The idea is to purify the body of toxins, aid circulation, and, mysteriously, to both relax and invigorate at the same time.
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Bewitching water Every Belarusian village has its own banya surrounded by much folklore. On the night before her wedding, a bride is supposed to bathe in the banya then give her fiancé the “dirty” water to drink; this casts a spell to keep him forever in love |
Beating each other with damp birch twigs
I tested the theory at Minsk’s Banya Number One (built just after World War II), a public affair where Belarusian baboushkas (grannies) battle for space on the benches. After 10 minutes in the steam room, my friend Sveta and I retired to the warm outer room to jump screaming into a barrel of cold water (the urban solution for towns without a lake nearby). On emerging, we applied a variety of mudpacks and scrubs to our glowing bodies and sat drinking a flask of green tea. Sitting in the buff, covered in gloop, and having nothing to do but relax is heavenly. Other women nonchalantly shaved their legs, washed their hair, and set about beating each other with damp birch twigs. This latter activity is supposed to further aid circulation and is strangely pleasant as long as you’re careful. After three hours of blissful washing, sweating, scrubbing, beating, and tea drinking, I floated out of the banya house feeling about 10 pounds lighter and without a care in the world.
An excuse for high jinx
Wealthier households and smart gyms all have their own banyas. If you’re invited to a business meeting after working hours, the chances are that you’ll end up in a banya together; bear this in mind when accepting invitations on a Friday night. Likewise, beware banya parties in country dachas (cottages), as these are often excuses for high jinx: Furtive groping under cover of steam is followed by frolics in the snow and thrashing of derrières with those birch twigs.
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